Tennis Tailspins
Several extremely talented tennis players have struggled with their form and results during the past year. Ironically, a few of them managed to find their form at Wimbledon, albeit very briefly. Marat Safin, former Australian Open and U.S. Open champion, reached the semis at Wimbledon beating Novak Djokovic along the way before losing to Roger Federer. Nicole Vaidisova, who reached the semis at the Australian Open and the quarters at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2007, had struggled all spring in 2008 until she played well to reach the quarters at Wimbledon. Amelie Mauresmo, the 2006
Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, has been plagued with injuries for the past year. The lack of practice and match play seem to have seriously hurt Mauresmo’s confidence and her results reflect that situation. At Wimbledon, Amelie did win a couple rounds and play one strong set against Serena Williams. On the other hand, David Nalbandian, who struggled in 2007 before finishing the year in style by beating Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic en route to two consecutive titles, is playing poorly again in 2008. Nalbandian lost in the third round at the Australian Open, second round at the French Open and the first round at Wimbledon. Finally, the talented and charismatic Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, followed up his run to the 2006 Australian Open finals with a semifinal finish at Wimbledon in 2007. However, in 2008, Baghdatis has only won 14 matches all year, three of them at Wimbledon, where he reached the round of 16. Each of these players is at a crossroads in his or her career during the second half of 2008. There is the chance to find confidence and form by the U.S. Open and close out the year with a strong performance at the final Slam of the year. On the other hand, poor play in the second half of the year will raise different, but lingering questions, about the futures of each of these players. Would that they each will have at least one more hurrah...
|| Comments (0)
